1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is drawn to improvements in egg-free flan-type pudding of the type generally described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,722,851 (2/2/88) to Kadan and Ziegler.
2. Background Art
Custards are a popular food in many parts of the world. Recently, similar foods called flans, made from milk and certain colloids have been introduced in the U.S. market. These foods are considered to have a great potential for use as a snack, and/or meal replacement. Continuous changes in the lifestyle of affluent and working populations, particularly in developed countries, lead to novel food demands to meet their increased awareness of health, fitness and well-being. Most of the developed countries have also reached a static population growth but will continue to have increases in the proportion of middle age and elderly segments of the population. The fastest growing segment of the U.S. population is 65 and older. This group is prone to certain nutritional diseases such as obesity, osteoporosis and hypertension. Nutritionists are advocating the increased consumption of calcium rich foods to combat many of these diseases (Heaney, R. P., 1986, Osteoporosis: The Need and Opportunity for Calcium Fortification, Cer. Foods World 31:349). Dairy products are the major source of calcium in the American diet. Nonfat dry milk (NFDM) can be used as a convenient and natural source not only of calcium but also of high quality protein to engineer new foods for this group.
A custard-like dairy food has been recognized as having good potential in the U.S. food market (Flan: The Next Yogart, Prep. Foods, 1984, p. 157). Similar foods, called flans, are already popular in Europe. An old fashioned egg custard or egg flan is a moldable fresh diary product, made from a measure of milk and sugar and utilizes eggs as a gelling agent. The product is consumed as a dessert or snack food. Advances in food technology have shown that a moldable/demoldable flan can also be made by using special mixtures of carrageerans which form the gel thereby permitting production of egg-free and hence cholesterol free flan (Application Bulletin Number D-10, 1984, FMC Corp. Marine Colloids Dir. Philadelphia, Pa.). The carrageenan gel shrinks in a controlled marker as it sets up, allowing easy demolding. Only, small amounts of specially prefered and purified starches are used in the flans to avoid pastiness or `mealy` mouth feel to the finished product. Several examples of such products are described in Appl. Bulletin No. D-10, Ibid.